Thomas WHITEHEAD, Congress, VA (1825-1901)

WHITEHEAD, Thomas, a Representative from Virginia; born in Lovingston, Nelson County, Va., December 27, 1825; received a limited schooling; engaged in mercantile pursuits; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1849 and commenced practice in Amherst, Va.; during the Civil War served in the Confederate Army as captain of Company E, Second Virginia Cavalry, 1861-1865; elected to the State senate in 1865, but did not qualify; elected prosecuting attorney for Amherst County in 1866 and again in 1869, resigning in November 1873, having been elected to Congress; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-third Congress (March 4, 1873-March 3, 1875); was not a candidate for renomination in 1874; editor of the Lynchburg News in 1876 and the Lynchburg Advance in 1880; resumed the practice of law; elected commissioner of agriculture for the State of Virginia in 1888 and served in this capacity until his death; died near Lynchburg, Campbell County, Va., July 1, 1901; interment in Spring Hill Cemetery, Lynchburg, Va.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present